Omidyar Network's India MD Jayant Sinha puts in papers

BY Anand Rai

To date, Omidyar has committed more than $628 million to for-profit companies and non-profit organisations.

Jayant Sinha, partner and managing director of Omidyar Network's India operations, has left the firm. While Sinha’s next move is not known as of now, the firm is currently looking for his replacement. The development was first reported by Startup Central.

Currently, India operations at the firm are being overseen by its existing senior investment team, including Badri Pillapakkam, Dimple Sanghi, Anuradha Ramachandran and Mallika Singh.

Sinha had joined Omidyar Network back in September 2009, and had been with the firm for over four years. Prior to that, he was the managing director at Courage Capital Management, an investment advisor offering alternative investments to institutional investors and private clients. Before that he was a partner at McKinsey & Company, and president at Internet Business Capital Corporation. An IIT Delhi alumnus, he holds a MBA degree in general management from Harvard Business School, and a MS degree in energy management & policy from University of Pennsylvania (US).

Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Omidyar invests upwards of $1 million in companies. To date, it has committed more than $628 million to for-profit companies and non-profit organisations. Of this, $288 million was invested in for-profit companies, while the remaining ($340 million) has been spent via grants in non-profit enterprises.

Omidyar Network India Advisors Pvt. Ltd. is a venture capital firm with $737 million assets under management. It provides early stage and debt capital to companies operating in Asia, Africa, United States, Latin America and Europe. The firm seeks to invest in microfinance, small and medium sized enterprises, emerging market ventures and property rights and also in profit and non-profit organizations. It typically invests more than $1 million in its portfolio companies as an initial investment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra with additional offices at London, Washington, Johannesburg and Silicon Valley.